Springs for use in the aforementioned construction are installed at different places in accordance with engineering technology. Such springs are made of wound spring steel wire and comprise a plurality of windings. Most compression springs abut the corresponding contact surfaces by way of the terminal windings, e.g. by reducing the pitch of the last winding so that it is bent to nearly extend in the radial plane. The face of the bent winding often undergoes grinding so that a precise contact surface is formed.
In practice it appears that compression springs manufactured in accordance with specifications cannot be installed in the aforementioned constructional arrangement or can be installed only with considerable deficiencies. During compression of such a known spring under a precisely axially directed force, this force will not be transmitted in a uniformly axial direction to the contact surface opposing the other end of the spring. The known spring produces a radially directed force component on this contact surface. Thus in a known construction of a rolling bearing in which the base of a sleeve forms the contact surface, the spring is radially prestressed and can be radially displaced. The entire arrangement accordingly cannot ensure coaxial alignment. Since the radially directed force component is constantly changing during the spring excursion, this must be compensated for by constantly varying displacement of the rolling bearing, for example.
Particularly during impulsive loading, the spring is radially displaced on its contact surface so that the relative positions of the sleeve, the helical spring, and the rolling bearing, and the radial forces transmitted from one component to another, are constantly changing. The difficulty also arises that a precise coaxial guiding of the helical spring is not possible because different diameters are required for guiding a spring which is inclined relative to the spring excursion. Therefore a radial play between the sleeve and the helical spring must be provided which eliminates the aforementioned disadvantageous consequence.